So with August over its time to review the Path to Glory campaign.
Three games took place this month. Two between Ben and Declan which you can read here, and another between Aron and his friend Rick.
Declan managed to take two wins against the forces of Chaos and he advanced further north-east on the map, building a small settlement around a realmgate. To the south-east of his settlement he discovered Wild Lands which are currently under the control of the Undead (Aron).
Meanwhile Aron’s forces led by the Vengorian Lord Shana, the Flame of the Heavens successfully repelled a chaos incursion into their lands, utterly defeating the force leaving no one alive to tell the tale.
After the battle his scouts returned advising him of a Troggoth settlement that had sprang up to the north just beyond the wild lands around what they had assumed to be a ruined realmgate.
Shana had to plan their next steps carefully.
Aron’s Undead Forces
We haven’t yet covered Aron’s forces in the campaign. Aron has 2,000 points of Soul light Gravelords.
Led by Shana, Flame of the Heavens a Vengorian Lord the forces include two heroes Wilhelmina Carmel a vampire lord in the thrall of Shana and Machtrohl the Unbroken, Shana’s iron fist.
Aron’s forces includes the following units;
Deathrattle Skeletons (Bone Legion)
Dire Wolves (Alpha)
Zombie Dragon (Deadarire, Bringer of the Dead)
Vargheist (Primus)
Blood Knights (Lord Vahl’s Riders)
Deathrattle Skeletons (Ossius Legion)
Grave Guard (Order of Merihim)
Black Knights (Knights Noir)
As Aron has a 2,000 point list he was able to claim three territories at the start of the campaign. He chose a Settlement, Arcane Waypoint and some Wild Lands.
No games for Rhys, Dave, Ed or myself yet. But watch this space. I have a feeling Nurgle and Chaos may be rumbling soon…..
This weekend sees the release of two Battletomes (Orruk Warclans & Stormcast Eternals) along with a selection of miniatures for both ranges.
The battletomes will come in both a limited edition format and the usual hardback format. You’ll also be able to pick up the warscroll cards for both factions.
The miniatures being released by Games Workshop are, as always second to none in their quality and looks with very few companies being able to match their standard.
Games Workshop Minis Released this Weekend
The below releases are all listed as September release with no exact dates.
All of the miniatures below are for use in Warlord Games‘ Warlords of Erehwon: Mythic Americas ruleset. After Games Workshop it can be argued that Warlord Games are the second largest company in the wargaming industry with rulesets for Sci-fi, Fantasy and Historical wargames.
Wargames Atlantic provide alternatives for miniatures which can be used in other games systems. This weekend sees the release of three different boxed sets:
The first is French Infantry which can be used for World War 1 enthusiasts, and at £25 for a box of 35 models is a great bargain. If you buy more than one set you also have a bulk purchase discount.
The next is Cannon Fodder, which can be used for a variety of Sci-Fi Games. These would make a great alternative for either Cadians and at £25 for a box of 30, they make a far cheaper alternative giving you three squads of troops!
The final offering from Wargames Atlantic is the Goblin Warband, again with 30 miniatures for £25.
Just the one offering from Mantic Games this week in the form of their Halfling Engineer for Kings of War. £10 direct from their website.
Orange Ben and @rightangle79 (Declan) are both off to the Facehammer Grand Tournament this weekend (11th & 12th September 2021). I thought it would be a great time to interview them about their tournament lists and their past glories…..
Ok. So you’ve both been to tournaments before, what do you enjoy the most about them?
Ben: For me it’s mainly seeing friends and looking at cool armies. But mainly this:
Declan: Seeing friends, having a beer and chatting about Warhammer. It also means I have a deadline for painting toys… which I almost always need. For most tournaments I include something new to paint.
So which armies are you taking to Facehammer this year? Care to share your lists?
Ben’s Kharadron Overlords (Ghostlords)
Declan’s List
Loonboss – Clammy Hand
Fungoid Cave Shaman – Hand of Gork
Madcap Shaman – Hand of Gork & Moonface Mommet
Webspinner on Arachnarok Spider – Curse of da Spider God & Amulet of Destiny
60 Shootas
20 Shootas
40 Stabbas
2 x 20 Stabbas
2 x Sneaky Snufflers
Rippa’s Snarlfangs
Scuttletide
Scrapskuttle’s Arachacauldron
Emerald Lifeswarm
2120 points; 214 wounds; Warlord; Hunters of the Heartlands; Vanguard
This is my favourite at the moment. Other option is full squigs.
Do you have battle plans or tactics in mind for when you make it to the tournaments?
Ben: To a certain extent, you know you need to claim objectives so you need units that can do that.
Declan: Gloomspite outside Troggs can struggle to kill things so I need to play like Gargants – get on objectives early and start scoring. Hand of Gork (movement spell) is critical in the list as it means people can’t leave objectives unguarded. I have the Spider to get Monstrous Takeover early and get the option of broken ranks with him. Although I need to protect him or lose him on my turn to prevent him giving 1 point away. 2nd turn is normally Ferocious Advance with Loonboss and both Fungoids (who spend most of their time hiding behind the Loonshrine). Finally I don’t mind losing units because I want as many opportunities as possible to get them back – hence Clammy Hand (Roll twice for reinforcements from Loonshrine).
Ben’s Ghostrek
Ben, I notice you have the dreaded Gotrek! Facehammer have slightly adjusted rules for him now, how do you think he’ll do?
Ben: He is still super smashy, he is there to kill gargants!
Declan, Sounds like a thorough plan. I love the Arachnarok unit, I’ve seen people include more than one, you weren’t tempted to do this?
Declan: I want to try a horde army because its my normal playstyle and is against the meta with reinforcement points and no horde discount. Unfortunately points are too high normally, but with an extra 150 it’s worth a go. I also want GW to see that people will take armies which are rubbish if they get small boosts. GG effectively have c8% reaction in points at facehammer which is what they need before the book. Unfortunately 60 Grots went from 360 to 450 which is criminal for a low power level book.
Have you ever crossed swords with each other in a tournament, if so how did that go?
Declan: I think we played Ogor v GG didn’t we? On the way in people were complaining about your list being too good and I said it was fine… then gummed you up with Grots?
Ben: Yeah it was the cows Throwing snowball list, I told everybody it was rubbish but no one believed me and then I got grotted!
Declan: Ah yes… you forgot the Stonehorns!! I did have 180 Grots in your defense.
Ben: 2+ I do six mortal wounds, cool, there are 54 left.
Declan: Yeah… no where near enough damage.
Whats your most memorable moment at a tournament?
Ben: Played a chap called Laurie who Declan will know, with a shooty stormcast list, and turn one took off his archaon off turn one, was crazy good.
Declan: I was playing GG with allied Gitmob grots at Sheffield Slaughter against Nurgle with their first book. It was against a GW employee who I won’t name as they get enough grief! His Great Unclean One had a -1 to hit within 12″ bubble. My shaman cast a spell on 60 Gitmob archers, who walked into the 12″ range, fired at the GUO and took it off! He was a little shocked but took it very well!
Ben’s Ghostlords Army
For someone looking to go to their first tournament, what advice would you give?
Declan: Definitely take the plunge. Let the TO and your opponents know it’s your first tournament. Take an army you know (don’t go for LRL net-list). Limit your warscrolls where possible. If you can bring 6 or fewer it gives you a chance of remembering the rules. Play the objectives!
Ben: Agreed
Looking at each others list, how would you try and defeat them?
Ben: You can’t ask us that we might play each other! But the short answer is throw Gotrek at him and shoot him a lot.
Declan: I think I probably have the advantage due to numbers here. If I can get on the objectives early it’s difficult to get me off them. Especially as Ben’s units flying in the boats don’t count as on the objective. I also just played Will with his KO and the grots can actually damage the units with shooting, and in combat. That said no doubt we’ll play now and Ben will rightly beat me!
Following my article last week on five alternatives to Age of Sigmar, I thought I would do some research and find out what the 50 greatest Fantasy games (skirmish & Massed Battles) of all time are.
This will come with some caveats; the ratings are taken from BoardGameGeek.com and I have only included games which have more than 50 votes against their name. This may mean that some of the more recent rules are missed off the list (Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings, being one).
The listed is sorted by the highest rated to the lowest, with games of equal ratings being split by the number of votes (the more votes, the higher their placing).
Some of the popular games you know and loved also didn’t quite make it into the top 50. These include Warhammer Fantasy Battles (1st Edition) 1983 (Ranked 52nd), Battle Masters 1992 (Ranked 61st) and Cadwallon: City of Thieves 2010 (Ranked 62nd).
So without further ado, let’s jump into numbers 50-46:
50. Warhammer Age of Sigmar (1st Edition) (2015) – Games Workshop
The Age of Sigmar 1st Edition Boxed Set
This was Games Workshops’ attempt to reignite the passion for Fantasy in their fan base. However the initial release saw a lot of backlash from the loyal Fantasy fans who had been playing Warhammer Fantasy since the 80’s. This included videos of some fans burning their Warhammer Fantasy army. A lot of outrage was due to the change in base sizes and the “squatting” of many factions such as Tomb Kings and Bretonnia.
The move to Age of sigmar, also saw many rules pop up for “Rank and Flank” games as a result. Games such as Kings of War and the Ninth Age came about mainly because of the removal of Warhammer Fantasy Battles.
Rise of the Kage started life as a Kickstarter on 6th September 2014 and was funded only five days later. It also met all of its stretch goals by the 5th of October after raising £105,000.
The boxed set is all you need to play and all the miniatures are included with no further purchases necessary.
“Rise of the Kage is a fast paced, tense and thrilling board game for two to four players. The game is set in the world of the Jwar Isles, and requires one or more players to control the stealthy ninja, and one player to control the stalwart guards.“
48. Elder Scrolls: A Call to Arms (2019) – Modiphius
“Let me guess, someone stole your sweetroll?”
The Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms is a skirmish level wargame that has two modes, either solo utilising the rules for ‘Delve Mode’, or you can go head to head with other players in ‘Battle Mode’. Both play styles can quickly be picked up from the scenarios listed within the quest book, although you are able to easily create your own.
“It is the time of the Dragonborn. Battle rages across the forests, plains and mountains of Skyrim as Imperials and Stormcloaks fight for supremacy. In ancient barrows, the restless dead rise from their sleep. Skeletons and fearsome Draugr jealously guard their treasures from bands of delving adventures. The Elder Scrolls: A Call to Arms is an adventure wargame set in the world of Tamriel. Gather your heroes and venture into Draugr haunted tombs and ruins, searching for treasure and glory. Or, fight the Civil War as the Stormcloaks and Imperials battle for the future of Skyrim.”
In 2005 Games Workshop released a boxed game called Great Battles of Middle Earth: The Battle of Five Armies based on the battle from the book “The Hobbit”. The rules are heavily based on the Warmaster ruleset, and it uses the same miniature scale. The boxed set contains rules, 10 mm plastic miniatures, and scenery (plastic hills, ruins and a cardboard river).
Additional miniatures for this game were cast in white metal. While detailed in the box set rule book, these extra miniatures were sold separately. They were discontinued shortly after being released. The box set remained in print for a long while before being removed shortly before the launch of the 28 mm line based on the movie “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”.
Battleground is advertised as a miniatures game without the miniatures. Players are given cards representing the bases of the various units with the artwork on top. However, there is nothing stopping you substituting these for actual miniatures from your favourite manufacturer.
Battleground is still for sale today through Your Move Games‘ website.
“Armies of stalwart Men defend their homelands against the Undead tide. Battle tested strike forces of High Elves ambush the Orc horde. Regiments of indomitable Dwarves fend off Dark Elven raids. Marshal your forces and command them to victory, but take caution: you cannot be everywhere on the battlefield at once. Your troops will follow your orders completely, and the general who triumphs is the one not just with the best strategy but who can also adapt to changing circumstances.”
Ben is one of the founding members of the Woehammer crew and also plays the character Grymar on the Curse of Strahd D&D playthrough.
I talked to him about how he got into the hobby and why he loves the Raptors so much.
Ben, top right as Grymar in Dunces & Dragons
Ok first question, when did you first get into wargaming?
I first got into wargaming when I was 12/13, so around 1998. It was after visiting the GW store on Oxford Street (London) for a friends birthday.
Did you get your parents to buy your first army while you were there then?
No, my first model was a Leman Russ tank for my birthday that year. After that it was Imperial Guard all the way.
Leman Russ tank! That’s an awesome first model! Do you still have the Guard army?
Unfortunately my older brother like Abaddon decided that Cadia must fall. He burnt all my minis and gaming board.
Wow! You never went back to them after that. Is that when you moved on to Marines? Also I hope your brother made up for that!
I had started to move away from warhammer at that point and wouldn’t return until 2019. He has since made up for destroying my minis by buying me copious amounts of paint so I’d call it even.
Good man! We all have that gap away from the hobby at some point. What brought you back?
My wife started to sell GW products in her shop around 2018. I was helping her with learning about the 40K side of things. After really getting into all the new lore I had missed I decided to start painting up a Deathwatch army so I could play again.
Ben’s Beautiful Bel’akor
And what made you interested in the raptors?
My Deathwatch army was made entirely of non primaris units. I wanted to keep the feel of the Deathwatch being an elite veteran chapter. While I was building and painting my Deathwatch army I would watch lore videos. That’s where I came across the Raptors, or as they’re also known, the Reasonable Marines.
I began to read more into the Raptors. They’re a successor chapter of the Raven Guard. The Raptors are know for being stealthy, using geurilla warfare and hit and run tactics. They are also prized marksmen. I felt this fit well into Phobos primaris units like infiltrators and Eliminators.
Some of Ben’s Raptors
What was the last game you played and against who?
The last game I played was a path to glory game of AoS against fellow Woehammerer Declan Waters. You can read his excellent write up on here.
Declan the baby faced assassin
What’s your most memorable gaming moment?
Haha, that has to be when my Chaos Lord on Karkadrak was down to his last wound and ended up killing my opponents Lord Kroak in one turn.
Was this against Orange Ben?
Yes it was. I should probably stop bringing it up…
No! You need to make the most of these memories.
Makes up for the battering I took from Declan.
The baby faced assassin!
Will be interesting to see what happens if him and orange Ben have a game.
What do you find the hobby gives you?
It’s surprised me how much I get out of the hobby. I really enjoy building and kit bashing models. I’ve found the painting to be massively therapeutic and has kept me reasonably sane through long stints of lockdown. It’s also an amazingly social hobby too. Not just the gaming element, but also chats over zoom while hobbying and meeting up for days out.
So apart from 40k what other games do you play?
During the first lockdown I started to build and paint a Slaves to Darkness army for AoS. Coming out of lockdown AoS has been the predominant game I’ve been playing. Ive also got into playing Dungeons and Dragons recently.
Ben’s Slaves to Darkness army
And hopefully we’ll be adventuring together again in the future! Ok time for a bit of a quiz. Name five GW games that aren’t AoS or 40k.
Necromunda, killteam, warcry, blood bowl, and trolling customers.
Magnus did nothing wrong. Yes or no?
It’s all his fault…
If you were to fall to chaos which power would you devote yourself to?
Blood for the blood god!!! Khorne all the way.
And the last one…. Ultramarines are…..?
Blue
Thanks to Ben for agreeing to be my first ‘subject’ in this series.
You can find Ben on Instagram here. Next week I’ll be talking to our very own Chaos Dave…
Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.
But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it.Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)
Jervis Johnson officially retired from Games Workshop in July. As such I thought it was a great time to cover his career as a games designer, from his first game to his last and the impact he’s had on the hobby.
If you don’t know who Jervis Johnson is then this will introduce you to a man who has created many of the great games you know and love today.
Jervis joined Games Workshop as a trade sales assistant in 1982. During this time he started writing rules for Games Workshops’ own games in his spare time (them being the seller for dungeons and dragons in Europe.and not producing their own game of Warhammer Fantasy until 1983). What would become the first edition of Blood Bowl was produced in 1986, followed closely by Rogue Trader (the 1st edition of Warhammer 40k) in 1988.
During his time Jervis has designed or has been involved in the design of over 93 games and add-ons. Both for Games Workshop and other companies.
Many other companies have taken inspiration from some of Jervis Johnson’s games. Whether you know it or not, your favourite game has probably been worked on or has used inspiration from one of Johnson’s game.
Some of the games Mr Johnson has worked on
His retirement is well deserved, but the wargaming community is losing a true giant of the industry. Goodbye Jervis, and enjoy your retirement.
Why don’t you let us know in the comments below which of Jervis’ games was your favourite?
Why not join our Facebook group to get the notifications on new posts and share your work with us for Tale of Painters.
Following on from last week’s article, A Budding Warmaster, I received today my order from excellentminiatures.com. These are Forest Dragon dwarfs printed by excellent miniatures.com, you can get these from other printers in the UK and around Europe.
The minis came very well packaged with plenty of padding around them.
The parcelA close up of the troop bag.
Before even opening the bad you can tell that these miniatures are very detailed for their scale. Excellent miniatures has printed these off at an extremely high standard, you’re unable to see any of the usual print lines you can get from 3D prints.
The prints
The models come with the supports from printing still attached, but it’s simple work to remove these before washing and undercoating.
I’m very pleased with the order and I will be going back again once these are painted.
Warhammer TV released a new episode of Angels of Death this week, along with a new 40k battle report between the Blood Angels and Orks.
Still nothing for our Age of Sigmar fans I’m afraid, and this is, in my opinion a massive ball drop by Games Workshop. Hopefully we’ll see new animations for Aos next week.
This weeks Warhammer+ releases
Angels of Death – The Silent City
Title card for the Silent City
The opening scene from this weeks animation was very, very good. The three years of work that has gone into this by Richard Boylan and the rest of the team is really starting to show, even at this early stage of the series.
Without spoiling, the episode is excellent, however, my only issue (I wouldn’t call it a complaint at this point) is that the sound effects and background noise seem too quiet in some parts of the programme.
The female ship captain is by far the standout character in this series so far and I’m enjoying her strong personality against the backdrop of the Blood Angels.
The art has remained the same as the previous week’s episode, so I’m unsure whether the monochrome and red is now the state of play for the rest of the series, or if the series will follow the path of Richard Boylan’s Helsreach animation and introduce more colour as it progresses. Either way it has excellent camera angles and the story really does draw you in.
Battle Report (Blood Angels v Orks)
Blood Angels v Orks
As a Blood Angel fan with a soft spot for the Orks, I’m a big fan of this week’s battle report. This week it sees Patrick in charge of the Blood Angels and Louise at the head of the Orks in a 1,000 point grand tournament scenario game.
The format is the same as the two previous battle reports shown last week, with mostly a top down view cutting to the players occasionally. The style of the battle report reminds me a lot of PlayOn tabletops YouTube battle reports and I believe they may have taken some of those ideas and applied them here.
Although I was pleased to be watching the 40k battle report, I’m surprised that Games Workshop didn’t post an Age of Sigmar one alongside this.
Masterclass: Black Armour
Black Armour
Louise Sugden introduces us to painting black armour to a masterclass standard this week. The video is informative and the instructions that Louise gives are clear, and after all who doesn’t enjoy a good painting video.
After watching this weeks video, it has made me realise another reason why Games Workshop shut down Daniel Latham’s YouTube site (one of their miniature designers and former ‘eavy metal painter) who was doing similar tutorial videos. You can still find some of his videos on his instagram account.
Conclusion
Another week for 40k fans with Age of Sigmar having nothing released in terms of viewing.
There was also no Hammer & Bolter episode this week, so perhaps this series will release an episode every two weeks?
As Declan said last week it’s difficult to recommend the service at the moment if you’re only interested in Age of Sigmar.
Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.
But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it.Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)
A lot of us started wargaming with Games Workshop and have stuck with them ever since.
Therefore I’m hoping that this article may introduce you to other wargames you may not have heard of, while giving you a brief synopsis of the game itself.
All of the following games are from companies which both produce the rules, and sell the miniatures for that game.
Kings of War (Mantic Games)
Kings of War is thought by many to be the successor to Warhammer Fantasy, and features many of the same armies (with slightly different names. E.g. Ratkin instead of Skaven).
“Kings of War is a table-top war game that allows you to play epic fantasy battles in the world of Pannithor. You and your opponent will pit your wits and armies against each other in a battle of tactics, a contest of skill and an explosion of magic and steel.“
Manticgames.com
Kings of War Dwarf Army
However, be aware the price point for these models are pretty much the same as Games Workshop with a pack of twenty models costing £32.50 in the UK.
Northern Alliance Pack Hunters (pack of 20 for £32.50)
The models are well crafted and look stunning. Some of the range is still in metal.
Skyrim – Call to Arms (Mordiphius)
For fans of Skyrim there’s Call to Arms by Mophidius.
Skyrim: Call to Arms
“The Elder Scrolls: A Call to Arms is an adventure wargame set in the world of Tamriel. Gather your heroes and venture into Draugr haunted tombs and ruins, searching for treasure and glory. Or, fight the Civil War as the Stormcloaks and Imperials battle for the future of Skyrim.“
Mophidius
The advantage of Skyrim: Call to Arms is that it also has a solo play method for gaming.
While not a massive battle game like Warhammer AoS or Kings of War, the game focuses more on small skirmish games and dungeon delving.
The models will set you back roughly £40 for a pack of 12. But the quality is on par with both Mantic and GW.
Imperial Vanguard for Call to Arms
A Song of Fire & Ice (Cmon)
This is the official Game of Thrones miniatures game which has been licensed to Cmon.
Stark v Lannister Starter Set
“A Song of Ice & Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game is a competitive miniatures game for two or more players. Each player controls one of the Great Houses of Westeros, commanding battlefield units, recruiting legendary Heroes, and manipulating the political stage, in the attempt to claim the greatest prize of all: The Iron Throne.“
Cmon
The miniatures are excellently detailed, however they are mono-pose. The starter set which includes 50 Lannister miniatures and 43 Stark Miniatures can be found on various websites including Amazon for about £100.
Starter set contents
The game also incorporates deck building and list building into its five different game modes.
A Unit of Stark Outriders
Warmachine/Hordes (Privateer Press)
“WARMACHINE is a fast-paced and aggressive 30 mm tabletop miniatures battle game set in the steam-powered fantasy world of the Iron Kingdoms. Take control of an elite soldier-sorcerer called a warcaster and his mighty warjacks–massive steam-powered combat automatons–as you battle to destroy the enemy warcaster.“
Privateer Press
30 models inside the two player starter set
Warmachine and Hordes are relatively similar and involve smaller armies. It’s a great system for those looking for lower model counts. The models are really nice and would make great painting projects on their own. Just look at the below Warjack model….
Galleon Mercenary for Warmachine
However a model like the above will set you back around £70 with the rest of the range costing between £30-£70 for a box.
Frostgrave (Warlord Games)
Warlord Games are quintessentially Games Workshop ex-employees. With Rick Preistley being among their number. They have a large (and excellent) historical range of figures, but also some fantasy with offers in both Warlords of Erehwon and Frostgrave.
“Warlords of Erehwon is a fantasy based game designed for 28mm tabletop warfare. The gameplay is built around the D10 system developed for the science-fiction game Beyond the Gates of Antares and also using the praised order dice mechanic first used in the Bolt Action WW2 rules.“
Warlord Games
Rulebook for Warlords of Erehwon
Warlord Games miniatures are not as finely detailed as other manufacturers out there, but what they lack in detail they make up for in value. A box of 20 plastic models from Warlord will set you back around £20 (half of what GW charge nowadays).
A Starter Army for Warlords of Erehwon
Next week, I’ll go through five non-GW science fiction games as an alternative to Warhammer 40,000.
Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.
But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it.Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)
I’ve been writing my own set of Napoleonic war game rules for a while now, the idea for which has been formulating inside my head for roughly three years.
There are many, many different sets of rules for Napoleonic wargaming, but none of them quite got to the itch I was feeling for the period. I wanted a wargame, which was accurate to the time in terms of weapon ranges, unit movement and formations. As well as having a command and control structure that could fairly accurately represent the command structures of the time.
Some of my 6mm British Line Infantry
The biggest issue, is that I want all of these thing, but I also want the game to be fairly simple and quick to play. I therefore set about writing my own set of rules, which I’d also wanted to do for some time.
Below I’ve set out a brief overview of the rules and how the game mechanics work. If people are interested further in the game development, then I may post further articles on the subject in the future.
The Battle of Elchingen using Clausewitz Playtest Rules
The game is designed to be played on a 6′ x 4′ table, with 30cm equating to roughly a mile of battlefield.
Base sizes are set to 40mm wide, with a base representing a Battalion of Infantry, a Squadron of Cavalry or a Battery of Artillery. These bases are banded together into larger units known as Brigades. Brigades are ordered around the battlefield by Divisional Generals and the Commander-in-Chief of your army.
The game is not a traditional igo-ugo system and instead relies on coloured chips which represent your generals actions for that turn, of which there are thirty in the game. For example, at the start of the game there may be five red chips representing General Wellington’s actions that turn, and five blue chips representing Napoleon. Depending which chip is drawn allows the relevant player to act.
Players then activate units and other Generals inside their army by sending orders to them on the tabletop, these orders represent the objective that the unit has been assigned. Once assigned to an objective, the unit can only score victory points for being near that objective. They cannot score victory points for being near an objective they have not been assigned to.
Generals and Brigades have command ratings, with a combination of the two determining the roll a player will need to use that unit that turn. For example, a Brigade of British Infantry may have a command value of 4 and a British General may have a value of 5, meaning that the player would need to roll 9 or below on two D6 to use that unit, that turn.
All units and Generals have five actions as standard, however these can be modified by how far away the unit is from the General and also by how much the command roll was failed.
Once units are activated, they may move and fire using their actions that turn.
Early playtesting using Battle Chronicler
If you want to know more about Clausewitz, then please let me know in the comments below and I may summarise different aspects of the game in future articles.
